Walmart, J.B. Hunt, Loblaws Among The First To Reserve Tesla Semi

Tesla has proven yet again that it can beat the odds after what was supposed to be a Tesla Semi reveal turned into much more, and companies are already flocking to reserve the future electric hauler.

Yes, despite many people waiting years for their Tesla Model Xs, and now some not-so-fast Model 3 production — with some 500,000 people waiting patiently — one would think that there might be some hesitation to jump on the “Tesla slew of new products bandwagon.” Nope, this is not the case. The company continues to prove time and time again that many people have the utmost faith in Elon Musk and Tesla’s future plans.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaking at the electric semi truck event.

This time, we’re not even talking about a bunch of Average Joes. Now, the automaker has reeled in immediate support from corporate entities.

Tesla shares were slowly dropping as of late, mostly due to Model 3 production woes. But they jumped 4.5 percent almost immediately as J.B. Hunt Transport Services announced that it had already reserved “multiple” Tesla Semis. President and chief executive officer at J.B. Hunt, John Roberts shared:

“We believe electric trucks will be most beneficial on local and (daily) routes, and we look forward to utilizing this new, sustainable technology.”

Not long after Hunt’s announcement, Walmart revealed that it’s planning to test the electric semis for use in its fleet. In fact, the retailer already pre-ordered 15 of the behemoths. Meijer, the Michigan-based grocery chain also picked up 4 copies.

The Tesla Semi, with 500 miles of range, far exceeded most people’s expectations, as Musk promised it would. The event itself also caught us by surprise since Musk revealed the new Roadster, a strange but innovative pickup truck that can haul a pickup truck, and the company’s new Megachargers – which will quickly charge the upcoming semi (400 miles of range in just 30 minutes reportedly).

Ben Kallo, senior research analyst at Baird said in a note:

“TSLA unveiled the Tesla Semi, a heavy-duty truck we believe could be disruptive to trucking markets given the strong specifications (~500 mile range) and low expected cost of ownership (potentially ~20% less expensive per mile than traditional trucks).

We believe the large U.S. market will support sales of the Tesla Semi as we think the vehicle should be competitive with many traditional heavy-duty trucks, and exceed performance of existing electric trucks.”

Brad Delco of Stephens Research told CNBC in an email:

A look inside the Tesla Semi

“This news is not unexpected. Transportation companies are always looking for ways to lower operating costs given the competitiveness in the industry. My assumption is that they will purchase a few trucks and test them in a more localized freight network before making a bigger purchases decision.”

In regards to Walmart — which has a fleet of more than 6,000 trucks servicing the U.S. and Canada — five of the preorders will be tested in the U.S. while the other 10 are Canada-bound. The retailer told CNBC:

“We have a long history of testing new technology – including alternative-fuel trucks – and we are excited to be among the first to pilot this new heavy-duty electric vehicle.

We believe we can learn how this technology performs within our supply chain, as well as how it could help us meet some of our long-term sustainability goals, such as lowering emissions.”

And it turns out, Walmart is not the only retailer in Canada that’s biting. Canadian grocery store chain, Loblaws, just joined the electric semi club with its order of 25 Tesla Semis. Catherine Thomas, a spokeswoman for the grocer, said that plans are in place to have a fully electric corporate fleet by 2030.

TESLA OBVIOUSLY HAS ANOTHER ACE UP ITS’ SLEEVE, THIS IS THEIR APPROVED PATENTS FOR THEIR HYBRID SECONDARY METAL AIR BATTERY CAME TIMELY FOR THEIR UNLIMITED RANGE SEMI & TRUCK CONFIGURATIONS IF THE METAL ELECTRODE IS DESIGNED IN SUCH A WAY THAT IT CAN BE EASILY REPLACEABLE IF IT IS FULLY SPENT IN PROVIDING THE POWER REQUIRED TO RUN THE RE-CHARGING OF THE PRIMARY LITHIUM ION BATTERY PACK ON THE GO WITHOUT LOST OF ANY ELECTRODE METAL MATERIAL THAT COULD BE RECYCLED IN THEIR OWN GIGAFACTORY ONE, THIS IS A LONG TERM REVENUE STREAM GENERATING SERVICES FROM TESLA ENERGY DEPT FOR THE REPLACING AND RECYCLING OF THE FULLY SPENT METAL ELECTRODE FOR RE-CHARGING THE SAID PRIMARY BATTERY PACK WITH THE HIGH DENSITY ENERGY POWER SECONDARY METAL AIR BATTERY FOR UNLIMITED RANGE ON THE GO EXCEPT WHEN THE SAID METAL ELECTRODE IS BEING FULLY SPENT IN LONG DISTANCE HAULING TRUCKING SEMIs RIGHT & TRULY OK? THIS’ THE BEST IDEA FROM ELON MUSK WITHOUT THE NEED OF ADDITIONAL SUPERCHARGER INFRASTRUCTURE BUT TO COMPLEMENT THEIR PROMISED SOLAR ARRAY POWERED MEGA-CHARGERS’ INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE REALLY LONG DISTANCE BEYOND THE SAID THOUSAND MILES’ HAULING SEMI-TRUCKS.

As awsome as the Tesla semi sounds large shipping companies wont but them in bulk till they test them for a year or two at least which is why Walmart is buying such small numbers and why large sales numbers will lage the start of production…
I also have to ask if it is time for Tesla to outsource production of the Semi and roadster fot the obvious reasons of lack of cash and lack of factories??

Which is perfect, because by the time Tesla can build them in any quantity they will have been tested, and in extremely high demand.

ICE is dead. Welcome to the start of the future, where one can walk down the street during heavy traffic, and breathe clean air, enjoy far less noise, and enjoy the safety of an autonomous transportation infrastructure..

Don’t write the obit for ICE vehicles just yet. We may get to 50% market share eventually, but we probably won’t get to 90% any time soon. Gasoline is a remarkable substance. It is energy dense, easy to fuel and remarkably cheap.

A Megacharger can be supplied by a 250 m side square of solar panels or by an average sized wind generator. That is all including night time out for PV and no wind time for wind power.
Also that is for a permanent continuous Megacharging 24/7 which is obviously far from reality. Ok, there are usually several chargers in one spot but at night very few people are charging, so on average the equivalent of one Megawatt feed will be enough initially.

I for myself only drive plug-in vehicles, 1 BEV and 1 PHEV, yet I’m in the minority.

More ICE’s were made last year than any in the entire history of internal combustian manufacture.

And, ICE’s are being used in NEW APPLICIATIONS – for instance the new 163 Megawatt Natural Gas/Oil plant in Northern California.

This HUMBOLT BAY CENTRAL STATION has 10 – 22,000 hp engines cranking out the juice. They are ‘dual fuel’ in that they start as a diesel but run as a natural gas plant. And during emergencies they can totally run on oil. Normally, fuel consumption of each engine is 650 gallons/hour but decreases to a trivial 3 gallons/hour when operating in gas mode (the cylinder is ignited as a diesel (sparkless), but most of the fuel ‘charge’ is methane). Typical efficiencies even BEFORE the waste heat is sold for productive purposes is over 60%.

No surprise to me that electricity usage is a bit down since their rates have been confiscatory. That is the REAL question I have, – why do Californians accept such nonsensical power rates?

Better you guys than me.

The local power company here TRIED to do PG&E rates. That lasted exactly one month. Next month the rates were exactly 40% of the month before after all the complaints. Totally coincidentally, of course.

We Californians pay higher rates but our average monthly bills are smaller by about $30 per month. How can that be? Our higher efficiency requirements are a big part of that. A mild climate is also a part of it. When you consider our electricity bills as a percentage of income then you should ask why the rest of the country doesn’t get on board the efficiency wagon. Those poor fools are wasting money which they don’t have.

Gasbag nails it and as solar gets cheaper and cheaper and battery storage will follow that cost reduction curve you will see California become a leader in solar plus battery storage at both the utility level and the individual home/business level.

Remember, Mexico just broke the record for a new solar tender at UNDER 2 cents a WATT!

That’s what I’m talking about and these cost reductions are what Elon Musk is basing his 7 cents/kwh pricing for the Megachargers on.

“I also have to ask if it is time for Tesla to outsource production of the Semi and roadster…”

The Roadster is supposed to be Tesla’s “halo car”, the model for which it shows what it can do if it pulls out all the stops. Farming that out to another auto maker would be a huge mistake. Can you imagine what the Tesla haters would say? “Look, Tesla had another auto maker make what was supposed to be its really high performance car!”

Contrariwise, I think it would make all kinds of sense to have the Semi Truck body made by a truck manufacturer. I’ve been mystified by Elon’s repeated statements about how “easy” it is to make the Semi Truck, and how it can be made from Model 3 parts. Well, I can certainly believe some parts of the powertrain can be made from Model 3 parts, particularly the motors and the battery packs. But the rest of it? A Semi Truck needs bigger wheels, a bigger driveshaft… bigger everything! And I don’t notice a lot of similarities between the Semi Truck’s cab and the Model 3 cabin, either, aside from the video screens.

But if Tesla is determined to make the Semi Truck in-house, as they say, then I guess that’s what they will do. Sadly, Elon once again failed to call me up personally to ask me how his company should make its vehicles! 😉

Thats not how the ‘Halo Product’ works. A halo product is a more affordable product that introduces a consumer to a company with a very positive experience. That positive experience is assumed when looking at other products of aid company. Since the price of the Roadsters price puts it outside most peoples range it can’t be considered a halo product.

Apples iPod, was deemed the halo product that gave people confidence in apple without buying the $1500 computer. After the iPod experience people would take the plunge on the computer based on that experience.

Interestingly, Walmart was experimenting with designing high efficiency prototype semis a couple years ago. Their prototype also had a center mounted driver seat, and several similar approaches to increasing aerodynamic efficiency.

A Peterbilt semi tractor costs around $100k to $120k. A Tesla will probably cost $150k to $200k. SWAG.
How many kWh will the pack be when it starts selling? 200 kWh to start with, then larger packs showing up relatively soon (1 to 2 years later) thereafter. I don’t think they will be long haul semis at first. Regional point to point would probably be the first application.

Ziv, I agree these early trial units will have much smaller batteries and much less than 500 miles of range. 200 kWh (100 highway miles in favorable weather) is a little too small, though.

I’d guess 400 kWh. That should be the same weight as diesel, so they can be dispatched to the same trailers as diesel. A cost premium of ~$30 matches their 2 year payback claim for a daily 100 mile A-B-A trip. It’s also enough battery to hit the announced performance numbers (except range, of course).

Did you watch the reveal? Energy use around 2kWh/mi, 500mi range, it’s looking like a 1,000kWh battery pack. Tesla aren’t fooling around, like Fuso and other wannabe EV trucks. Their claiming 500mi at 65mph with 80,000GVW fully loaded, possibly up a 5% grade, so you know it’s going to be at least 400mi. This is not your average short haul truck, it is a fully proposed Semi trailer tractor.
The only thing that seems strange is they haven’t announced another Giga-factory yet. With all these products, and what looks like another round of huge demand, they are going to need LOTS of battery supply in the next two years. Like, more battery supply than every other manufacturer combined at this rate!

Hmmm, I thought Elon had tweeted something about renting/leasing the Semi Truck’s battery pack, for something like $25k-27k per year. But after Googling the subject, it looks likethat was just more hot air from self-appointed analysts.

Hopefully these customers ‘testing the waters sight/unseen’ will turn out better than ENTERPRISE rent-a-car’s experience with the NISSAN LEAF.

One manager told me the car was a NIGHTMARE for them – customers constantly getting stranded, the car not going as far as listed in cold weather (think 10-20 degrees), and the manager having to delegate several additional part time employees to

Yeah, right, as if you couldn’t tell the Leaf is too short range for that application. Just what you would expect. If you like a good conspiracy theory you would think it was designed to fail to prove the concept was not viable.
Now if they did the same exercise with the Bolt, or any Tesla, I’m sure the situation would be quite different.

Nice story. I’m sure precessional truckers, who are used to monitoring fuel consumption and planning their driving, with 500 miles of range to work with, won’t make the same mistakes as inexperienced layperson (aka dumb) renters with 80 miles of range.

I look forward to seeing the performance reviews of the trucks through all the high altitude passes the Interstates and Canadian highways cross to see what the real world range is with an 40 Ton (US) payload after a 100 mile 6% incline.

I’m also curious about where these Megachargers get installed. I’m wondering if Tesla has made agreements with any of the major Truck Center chains in the US or Canada, possibly Mexico in the future. Will there be a Megacharger map similar to a Supercharger map where you can also locate Tesla service centers.

Agree. The business model for this has long been in place. It’s how LNG nat gas is being adopted. Large fleets that have the same exact run between states all the time. You just have to connect the dots. Lots of cargo gets moved this way. For instance a big adopter of nat gas trucks are of course short hall that return to the same shed every night (e.g. garbage) but also things like the UPS long haul runs between regional distribution centers. They’ve added over 400 nat gas trucks just this year including 50 LNG trucks.http://marcellusdrilling.com/2017/03/ups-adds-390-cng-50-lng-trucks-to-fleet-in-90m-natgas-investment/

For sure, energy consumption will be quite elevated during 100 miles at 6% incline. After 50 miles at the latest, you have to release the oxygen masks, otherwise the average driver will pass out. That’s some additional energy consumtion, in addition to the huge draw by the thrusters you will need to lift the heavy truck further above the ground, given that there are not many stretches of Canadian roads elevated higher than three miles above ground. After 80 miles, a pressure suit would be advised, unless the driver happens to be a bad ass mountain climber, and after the 100 mile stretch, watch out not to crash into passenger airplanes, as you are now at least 6 miles above sea level.
There is no 100 mile road with a 6% constant incline anywhere on this planet…

If an EV semi truck is interesting everywhere, they will obviously shine even more in the mountains. Not only will they go up faster and more easily but they will recuperate a big part of the energy going down afterwards. Diesel trucks are slow on the way up and waste all the energy going down, the more the waste break pads in the process as well. If you use a semi in the mountains the ev return will jump from 20% cheaper to even cheaper.

A good idea would be to place the Megacharger where trucks like to go but also where there is already an easy access to electric power. Obviously dams with their storage capacities would be nice candidates or a crossing between an electric transmission line and a road. Roads just near green electricity production centers would also be advantaged locations.

I’m rather surprised Jay Cole doesn’t have an Op:ED on this yet, but he’s sure to in the next day or two:

Basically, Bob Lutz (of whom I admit I always love listening to – that’s why they put him in ‘Revenge of the Electric Car’) is at it again. But this time he’s in danger of being SHOT by Tesla Fans.

He states – Tesla loses $4000 on each S, which to me is hard to believe since I THOUGHT the “S” cost Tesla $32,000 to make, and then the moderators say –

“Well, Why doesn’t GM make a decent Electric Car that people want to buy”?

Lutz:”GM makes cars that are profitable”.

“You can’t sell a car like you sell an I-phone – for that all you need is a store front and kids. Dealerships take a huge financial burden off of GM – all the headaches are the dealer’s problem and business”.

But here’s the biggie that is going to put Lutz’s life in danger: “Tesla constantly deflects.. If they have problem making cars, they go to mars. If they have problems coming out with a new model, they make a battery plant. If the battery plant doesn’t work they Tunnel under Los Angeles. If their latest car doesn’t work they come out with 2 new cars or semi’s. (Here’s the biggie).

“If Tesla continues the way they’re going they won’t make it to 2019.”

I’m sure this is going to be good for a week’s worth of News Articles.

Yeah Lutz an ex CEO that never built a company or had a vision and Chanos a parasite that tries to destroy companies and profit from it. Neither of the two shumks could be compared to visionaries like Musk, Bezo, Gates, Page, Brin, or Jobs who really revolutionized industries and had a vision of creating something no one else even thought possible.

Hmmm, well this Tesla fan thinks nobody takes Bob seriously anymore. You don’t shoot the guy sitting on his front porch in his rocking chair, yelling “Get off my lawn!” at the neighborhood kids. You just shake your head and think it’s sad how far he’s fallen from the days when he was influential and respected.

500mi, $0.07/kWh, if that’s 1,000kWh then you just drove your truck 500mi for $70.00. 1mil mi cost you $140k. Sorry, what would that cost you in diesel? If you get 6mi/gal @ $2.5/gal, that 500mi to cost you $208, so $135 saving could be pretty good.
500mi at 65mph, not slowing down as much up hills compared to diesel truck (45mph vs 65mph on 5% grade as quoted) means quicker travel time. Improved acceleration 0-60 fully loaded in 20sec. What is this improvement in time worth?
If Tesla can come anywhere close to these numbers in the real world, then what trucking company wouldn’t be interested?

Let’s keep a keen eye on Tesla semi sales in Canada.
– Diesel fuel costs are currently $3.00 to $3.60 USD/gal ($1.00-1.20CDN/litre).
– Electricity is very cheap (everywhere except for Ontario.)
– GVW for semis is mich higher in Canada (esp. Eastern Canada.) Battery weight will be less of an issue.
– Canada does not have influential anti-environment anti-EV politicians. The federal gov’t is currently planning its Paris Agreement strategy.

These are the reasons why Wal-Mart is sending the majority of its trucks to Canada as opposed to its home market, the US.

For intents and purposes, the trucking revolution should begin north of the 49th.

True, but since the majority of long distance travel is along the Trans Canada highway (4800 miles long) 12 Mega chargers at 400 mile intervals covers the majority of the population.
So, yah I think Canada represents a great demonstration opportunity for Tesla.